Diver looking to go from open water to OWSI in Pattaya Thailand

[matt smith 27]

i am looking to do an instructor internship from open water to OWSi in pattaya at Mermaids.
i have been to pattaya before so know exactly what to expect when i am there so i am not interested in peoples opinions on the city itself.
i would however like to know about Mermaids as a dive company, if the are respectable and that i will not be ripped off by them as i will be paying them a lot ov money for there services.
Anyone who has trained with them or dived with them ure opinion good or bad would be greatly apreciated

 

[Will]

If they let you do OW thru Instructor all at once - they aren't respectable IMO

 

[ScottBuck]

How long are you going to be there, because you are going to need to do a lot of diving just even to get the number of dives needed to become OWSI not to mention the other certs in-between ow to owsi!

 

[matt smith 27]

it is a 3 month course which includes all of the exams an equipment needed to complete the owsi exam !
y is it not respectable to offer all the courses together ?

 

[Will]

You honestly think that in 3 months - you will have dived enough in different environments - and experienced enough to actually train other divers - when you will still be a brand new diver yourself? The last thing the scuba world needs are more inexperienced instructors

once again, imo..

 

[matt smith 27]

3 months so 90 days will dive probably 60 of those days at least 2 or 3 dives a day so thats between 120 an 180 dives ontop of the ones i already have!
would u not think thats was enough experience to train sum one ?
i am also not interested in ure opinion of the course or how much experience i will gain from it ! i asked a simple question about mermaids dive centre in pattaya and would like information about them ! so if u dont have any i would be greatful for no more comments from you. thank you

 

[Kksmama]

I don't know anything about Mermaids. But if they've agreed to enroll an OW diver with less than 24 logged dives in a 3 month program to become an instructor then that is all I really need to know about them. They are either taking your money and will fail to certify you as an OWSI .....or worse, they will certify you.

Is 120 to 180 dives, in addition to 24, "enough experience to train sum one"? No, it isn't. What is your rush? Why not enjoy the recreational sport you've just learned for awhile, before making it a job?

 

[ianr33]

so thats between 120 an 180 dives ontop of the ones i already have!

Will that be 180 dives or one dive done 180 times?

There is a BIG difference.

 

[Ex-Aquanaut]

I have to (somewhat) respectfully disagree with Wil and kksmama. You two basically have no idea what you're talking about. Unless you've been here, see the quality of training that both we at Aquanauts and Mermaids provides, experience the intensive, day-in and day-out trianing interns get and then go head-to-head with our instructors, then you cannot judge Mermaid's nor our program.

If you're ever in the area, I'd invite you to come and do a course with some of our "inexperienced" instructors and you'll find many are better than the "old hands" who took years go get through Divemaster. Never discount the benefit of drive, motivation and enthusiasm mixed with -- in our case at least -- a passion for quality instruction and producing only the best-quality instructors.

Matt, before you sign up with Mermaid's, recognize there are other choices out there. We at Aquanauts, for example, are also in Pattaya, offer prices up to $1,200 less, have a an unrivaled 100% pass rate for the past 2 years, our own in-house job placmenet service and offer 3 different internship packages for all budgets with more gear and more courses than on offer at Mermaid's.

Full info at the link below.

 

[Sas]

Matt, before you sign up with Mermaid's, recognize there are other choices out there. We at Aquanauts, for example, are also in Pattaya, offer prices up to $1,200 less, have a an unrivaled 100% pass rate for the past 2 years, our own in-house job placmenet service and offer 3 different internship packages for all budgets with more gear and more courses than on offer at Mermaid's.

I would be suspicious about a place that has a 100% pass rate... Not everyone is going to be suitable as a scuba instructor (or even just teaching in general) and I find it surprising that you have not had someone fail the course in two years. This would indicate to me (not applying it specifically to Aquanauts, but in general) that one would just be buying their instructor certification when signing up for the OW to OWSI course.